Thousands of people read reports of last July’s near collision on the ground at San Francisco International Airport when an Air Canada flight nearly landed on a taxiway. Until the NTSB last week opened the docket of information related to the incident, almost no one realized just how close all the aircraft involved came to being part of a major ground collision.
Close Call at San Francisco Airport was Closer than Anyone Thought
Key Takeaways:
- An Air Canada flight nearly landed on a crowded taxiway instead of the runway at San Francisco International Airport in July 2017, descending to less than 100 feet above ground directly over waiting aircraft.
- The near-collision was primarily caused by pilot confusion during a visual approach and their failure to use the runway localizer as a navigational backup.
- Air traffic control did not initially detect the mis-alignment, leading the FAA to ban the combining of tower and ground control positions at SFO after the incident.
- The full severity of the near-miss was not widely known until the NTSB recently opened its docket of investigation information.
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